


These Fragile Things

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Don't Let Me Go [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode Related, Episode: s04e02 117, F/M, Hurt Stiles, Missing Scene, Post-episode tag, Spoilers for 4.02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-07 04:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1884555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lydia has concerns about Stiles' relationship with Malia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These Fragile Things

It had been a very long few days. From the time that Scott had realized that Derek was missing to tonight, a full week had passed and he felt like he’d barely slept. Not that missing sleep was an unfamiliar experience. It never had been. He’d had sleep troubles since he was a kid, though they’d gone away for awhile only to return after the nemeton ritual and nogitsune possession. Part of him was scared to sleep for long periods and he didn’t think that was something that was ever going to go away. Not really. 

Not after Allison.

Not after the dozens of people who’d died because of him. Sure, his friends could say it wasn’t his fault until they were blue in the face, but Stiles _knew_ the truth. But he didn’t want them to worry about him after everything because they had plenty of other things to worry about. Plenty of other things to deal with themselves, and he couldn’t really help them if they were too busy trying to help _him_. 

Not that he’d been much help to any of them anyway. Scott was doing his best not to let his own pain show because he was the alpha, but Stiles knew how badly he was hurting and he didn’t know what to do to make anything better or easier. And Lydia…

She didn’t talk about it either. But every now and then when she didn’t think anyone was looking, he caught sight of how deep her grief ran in the slight, uncharacteristic slump of her shoulders, in the way she closed her eyes for a few seconds as if she had to take a moment to compose herself before saying or doing anything else. 

There was no way for him to fix the things that he’d done this time. 

Two months had passed since he’d been possessed, since Allison and Aiden and all the nogitsune’s other victims had died. Since Isaac had left the country with Chris Argent. He wasn’t sure they’d ever see either of them again, and while he and Isaac hadn’t generally gotten along very well or even liked each other, he knew that Scott felt his loss, too, even if Isaac wasn’t _dead._ And Chris Argent…

Stiles wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready to face the man again after everything. Chris had more reason to hate him than he’d ever had reason to hate Scott. The very thought of seeing him again was enough to cause Stiles a near panic attack.

All of it put together made it difficult for sleep to grab him at all, and it made it impossible for him to turn Malia away when she showed up in true Hale fashion -- with no warning, silent and dangerous and demanding without so much as a word spoken. He knew that for some reason he was her anchor, and he didn’t _get_ it, really, because while they’d shared a moment in Eichen House in the middle of the worst time in his entire life, they barely knew each other. 

Admittedly, he felt a certain amount of protectiveness over her. He wanted to help her adjust to human life the way he’d wanted to help Scott adjust to werewolf life, because it was apparently something he had a knack for, and truthfully, Stiles didn’t have a knack for much else. It was almost as if he thought that if he could help her get settled, could keep her safe, then maybe it would help outweigh some of the harm he’d caused. 

So he didn’t turn her away when she snuck into his room in the middle of the night almost every night, creepy and unsettling as it actually was. Because if he could help her, then he was going to do it. And if she got a little too rough with him during sex, he wasn’t going to complain. Better she take her aggression out on him than some innocent person by accident, the way Kate had killed the gas station attendant. 

He couldn’t believe Kate Argent was _alive._ Well. He could. And that was the problem. Way to go, Peter, he thought tiredly as he made his way toward the jeep as the group got ready to leave the school. Derek was back to normal, at least, and he was glad about that. Scott and Malia and Kira were all trying to recover from the berserker attack, which was apparently a set up by Kate to steal 117 million dollars from the Hale’s. 

It was weird, even for Beacon Hills, and he was sure he was still missing something, but truthfully all Stiles wanted right then was to crash for like, a _week._ Unfortunately he still had school in the morning. He heaved a sigh and tossed his baseball bat into his jeep, glancing around at his other friends. 

Lydia was just a couple of steps behind him. She was exhausted. She hadn’t really slept between the trip to Mexico, the jeep breaking down, and then spending the night at the animal clinic with Derek. She had only gone home after Stiles and Scott told her they had found Derek at the police station. And even then, all she did was shower, change before she ended up at that gas station after picking up Kira. 

All in all, though, she prefered it that way. 

Keeping busy, trying to help people, having things to focus on helped her forget everything else. It helped her feel less alone. Even when she was around the rest of the pack, she still felt lonely. She didn’t feel like she belonged like she used to. When it was just the four of them and sometimes Isaac. And it wasn’t that she didn’t like Kira and Malia. Well, she liked Kira. She wasn’t exactly Malia’s biggest fan for more reasons than one. It was just that the whole dynamic of the pack was different. And it made her miss Allison even more.

Now she had no more excuses, though. She had to go home and the only good thing about it was that she should be exhausted enough to have one dreamless night. 

She stepped closer to Stiles and placed a hand on his back to get his attention. “Are you giving them a ride?”  
He flinched involuntarily at the pressure against his very raw back, but he turned to look at her when she spoke, blinking a couple of times and drawing in a breath. “I assume Scott’s gonna take Kira home. You have your car. I’ll take Derek and Malia home. Peter’s on his own.” He raked a hand through his hair, turning his attention to where Derek stood talking to Scott and Kira and Malia a few feet away. 

He’d only ever given Peter Hale a ride in his jeep once and it hadn’t been voluntarily. And Stiles could hold a grudge like no one’s business. Plus he wanted to get Malia as far away from Peter as possible as soon as possible. He glanced at Lydia again. “You’re gonna get some actual sleep tonight, right?” Because one of them _should._ Deaton wasn’t wrong about that. 

When he flinched, Lydia pulled her hand back quickly and cocked her head, eyes narrowing almost instantly. As far as she knew, they hadn’t done anything to hurt him when they were back in Mexico and Stiles hadn’t been in any danger tonight. Well, not aside from his brief interaction with Kate in Scott’s room but she had been feet away from him. According to his version of the story, anyway. 

“That’s the plan,” she said, glancing toward the others. She was sure Peter Hale could find his own way back when he stopped grieving his lost fortune. For the time being, she was a little more concerned about Stiles. “Did you get hurt?” 

“Good,” he said, nodding and not noticing how she pulled away and narrowed her eyes. How intently she was studying him. At least not until she was asking him if he’d gotten hurt. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he turned his head to look at her. “No?” 

He was definitely lying to her. She had seen his reaction. And Lydia didn’t like it. It had been a long time since she felt left out of pack stuff. She, Stiles and Scott were always the ones trusted to plan and take the lead on things. Even if personally she felt more left out, when it came to the important decisions and talks, she was always involved. 

She glanced over at the other side of the jeep and saw Malia and Derek getting into the car. Surely they overheard them. So when she turned to face Stiles again, she just nodded even though her eyes were narrowed. She wanted him to know she knew something was up. 

“I’ll see you later,” she said, then turned on her heels and started toward her car. Not so much later as _soon_. Sleep was going to have to wait a little longer. 

He wasn’t sure what the look she gave him meant or what was going through her head. “Yeah. Night, Lydia,” he said as he watched her go, a slight frown on his face.

* * * 

She didn’t drive home. Instead, she drove the opposite way from school and to the Stilinski house. And then she parked out front and waited. It was impossible to have a conversation with all the wolf hearing around, but she wanted to check on Stiles and make sure he was okay. Away from the others. 

And maybe part of her wanted to see if he was going to come home alone. Not that she cared. She obviously didn’t. If anything, she was happy if there really was something going on between him and Malia. It was about time Stiles got _some_ experience. But she wasn’t sure Malia was the right person for him to have that kind of experience with. Especially since Malia was, well, feral. And not the brightest. 

With a sigh, Lydia checked on her rearview mirror and undid her seatbelt. If she was going to have to wait for him out there, she might as well get comfortable. She just had to keep herself awake. So she turned the music up-- and leaned her head back against her seat. Just for a second. 

Stiles pulled into his driveway a little over an hour later, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly and frowning when he caught sight of Lydia’s car in the driveway. He’d known _something_ was up with her earlier at the school, but she’d left before he’d had a chance to ask what was going on. He parked his jeep and shut off the engine, exiting his own vehicle and moving over toward hers with worried eyes. 

He smiled just a little as he realized she’d fallen asleep. _Well,_ he thought. _At least she didn’t break into the house._ He tried the door handle, but it was locked and he hesitated before knocking lightly on the window.

Even with the light knocking, the noise was still enough to cause her to startle awake. She gasped, lifting a hand to her chest as she looked around for a second, pausing only when she looked up and saw Stiles standing there with a smile on his face. 

She was about to ask him what the hell he was doing when she remembered where she was and why she was there. So she took a deep breath instead and pointed at the passenger’s seat. “Get in,” she invited, hitting the unlock button on the door. She didn’t plan on being there very long. Just long enough to figure out what was going on. 

He arched his eyebrows uncertainly but shrugged and moved around to the other side of her car, crawling into the passenger seat. “You okay?” 

“I’m fine,” she answered as she reached to turn the music down. And then she took a look around, just to make sure they were alone before focusing on him. “Are you?” 

Stiles frowned at her, thoroughly confused as to why she was asking. “Yeah. I’m fine. Why?” 

“Because you visibly flinched when I touched your back, Stiles. You’re hurt, aren’t you? Was it Kate?” Either Kate or Derek, but one was a lot more concerning than the other. 

It took him a second to realize what she was talking about and he grimaced. Talking about his sex life with _Scott_ was one thing. Talking about it with Lydia Martin, the girl he’d informed his dad he was going to _marry_ when he was eight years old? That was a whole different thing. Mostly incredibly awkward. 

“Oh. No, she didn’t touch me,” he said honestly, scratching his chin. “I only saw her for like two seconds. I didn’t get hurt from any of the stuff from the last few days.” 

Her eyes narrowed once again at him. But he was telling the truth. As much time as she had spent around Stiles lately, she was able to tell. She had gotten really good at reading him and for all his other skills, lying wasn’t one of them. Well, not as far as she knew, anyway. It might be a different situation when it came to lying to the Sheriff. 

Still, that definitely didn’t answer her question. And Lydia liked answers. “What happened to you, then?”

He wasn’t really great at lying to anyone who actually knew him. His dad just let him get by with it a lot. He shifted awkwardly in the passenger seat, heat rising to his cheeks. There was no way for this conversation to be anything but awkward. “Uh. Well. Malia is...kind of aggressive.” 

At first, she didn’t think she had heard him right. She cocked her head and stared for a second longer. But between the whole package of awkward Stiles was currently presenting, she knew she had. And she was just going to ignore the sudden tightness in her stomach. Because she had absolutely nothing to do with any of that. 

Well, aside from the need to look out for her friend. She had to do that. And Stiles looked uncomfortable. 

“Too aggressive?” she asked, keeping her voice neutral. She had had plenty of sex with Aiden to know sometimes it could get hard to stay in complete control over their animal side. But she also knew what to do to stop him if necessary. Because while Lydia enjoyed leaving marks, no one was allowed to mark her. Especially not with real claws. 

He’d kind of hoped she’d just let it go at his admission. But it wasn’t a night working in his favor, apparently. He wasn’t sure what to make of the intense way she was now staring at him and he was having trouble meeting her eyes. 

“How aggressive is too aggressive?” he asked uncertainly, wondering what her scale was.

Talking about sex, even if it was kind of weird with Stiles, never really bothered her. And knowing Scott, he wasn’t offering any helpful advice. Not because he didn’t care, but he was just kind of clueless in his own Scott way. And Stiles had no real experience in the matter. Honestly, out of all of them, she was the one who had the most experience. And the only one who had experience sleeping with a supernatural creature while being as fragile as a human. 

“Is it making you uncomfortable?” She asked. “Is the level of pain too high for it to be good?” She added. Because Malia certainly didn’t know her limits.

This _conversation_ was making him uncomfortable, but he didn’t say that. “No, it’s…” He searched for the words for a moment. “I mean it’s fine. She’s trying to figure it all out. She’s not intentionally doing it or anything. It’s just the whole…” He waved a hand between them. “You know, the control thing.” He shrugged. 

“Stiles,” she said, her voice taking a warning, slightly exasperated tone. “You’re not a scratching post. I know she’s working on her control but if she can’t keep her claws retracted, then maybe she needs to keep her hands off until she learns how to control them.” She was trying with Malia. But she couldn’t bring herself to fully trust her. 

First of all, she was Peter Hale’s daughter. She was also feral and had no sense of loyalty toward any of them. With the exception of Stiles, apparently. On top of that, now she was _hurting_ him? 

“It sounds a lot worse than it is,” he told her, leaning his head back against the headrest. “She just needs more time. I mean, we’re working on it.” He paused and turned his head to look at her. “All of it, not just the clawing thing.” He chewed his lower lip. “It’s just a lot.” And not just for Malia, really. For all of them. He wished he knew a way to speed up the process. It wasn’t like it had been with Scott. Scott had been human most of his life. Helping him find himself an anchor had been pretty easy. His heart clenched at the thought of who that anchor had been and he turned his head to stare out the windshield. 

“I agree that she needs more time and that she needs to work on it,” Lydia said, turning on her seat to fully face him. “But she also needs to not hurt you.” Because he wasn’t bragging, he wasn’t proud of whatever marks she was leaving on him. Not that Lydia thought Stiles was really the type to brag but she would have expected to at least look happier. And he looked-- unsure, at best. 

He wasn’t really the type to brag. At least not to anyone except maybe Scott. But when he’d told his best friend earlier, it hadn’t been about bragging. Truthfully he was kind of concerned at the fact that Malia kept showing up in the middle of the night and he’d hoped that Scott might have some advice as to how to handle it, but he’d been at a loss for words. He nodded slightly at Lydia’s words and glanced at her. 

“I’m guessing this wasn’t an issue with…” He grimaced shutting his eyes and shaking his head. “Sorry.” 

She hadn’t been expecting that question. Even if, considering the subject, she should have been. Sometimes, it was almost a relief to talk about him, about Allison. To remember that they had been there and been a part of their lives. It wasn’t like when Jackson left, that she didn’t even want to hear his name because he had hurt her. With Allison and Aiden, she felt like they should be working harder to remember them. 

But she knew how much it hurt the others --and even herself-- to bring them up, so she avoided it. 

“No, it wasn’t normally. And when it was, usually around the full moon, I had ways of stopping him.” Usually just pulling away from Aiden was enough, but he had years of experience and control on Malia. 

He let out a breath, nodding at that. He wasn’t surprised. But he was also pretty sure that simply pulling away from Malia wouldn’t do much but upset her -- which was pretty much the opposite of what a person wanted to do when they were naked and with someone with actual claws and fangs. 

“So uh, what ways, exactly?” Because suggestions might be helpful. 

Lydia took a deep breath and sat up against her seat a little. She was willing to have this conversation, she was willing to offer him some help to better control Malia because she wanted to _help_ Stiles. Even if that whole thing just sounded like a terrible idea from where she was standing. 

“I physically pulled away from him, he usually snapped back when I did. Telling him firmly that he had to stop usually worked, too. And there was this one time where neither worked so I-- screamed at him. Briefly. But obviously you can’t do that,” she added, watching Stiles closely as she spoke, paying attention to his reaction. Because for some reason, she felt like they were important. Even if she didn’t know what she was looking for.

His eyes widened slightly at that and he stared at her. “You had to _scream_ at him to keep him from hurting you?” There was a hint of alarm in his voice. What the hell had they gotten themselves into with all of this, anyway? Scott was one thing. He’d been best friends with Scott _forever._ He trusted Scott completely. Even when he hadn’t had entire control over himself when he was first bitten and even though there had been close calls, he’d still ultimately _trusted_ Scott. 

He raked a hand through his hair and slumped down further in the car seat. “This is really not how I imagined our lives going,” he admitted. 

“Do you see how that sounds now? And he didn’t actually hurt me,” Lydia said firmly, arching her eyebrows pointedly. All Aiden had really done was grab her a little more roughly than she was comfortable with and the claws had come out. So she screamed. Maybe partially because she wanted to see how much she could control him. But her point was made and Stiles didn’t need the whole story.

Her face softened and she shook her head. “Not what I imagined either.” Especially when it came to Allison. She had a lot of plans that included her best friend, but she didn’t want to think about them now. “But at least parts of it, we can control.” Another pointed look.

“Okay, but it’s still different, Lydia,” he said softly. “He was a born wolf. Malia didn’t start turning until she was 11, and the first time she did, she didn’t know how to change back.” He exhaled, laying his head back again. “I don’t know. I think I’m out of my element on this. I mean, she’s made progress and it hasn’t been that long, but…” He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t have a banshee scream to control her with.” 

“That’s what I’m saying, Stiles. I know she’s trying, I do.” Even if she was questioning just how hard she was trying since the drive back from Mexico. And especially now that she was hurting the guy she supposedly cared about. _Supposedly_. Lydia took a deep breath and shook her head. “ _You_ don’t have to get caught in all of this just because you’re helping her. Not to the extent of your own safety. Because you _don’t_ have a banshee scream or an Alpha roar to pull her back if necessary.” He was _human_ and he was _Stiles_ and he deserved better.

Stiles looked down at his hands for a long moment. “I’m her anchor. I don’t really know why.” He wasn’t sure how it all worked _exactly._ Except maybe he’d been her first connection to a human after she’d turned back. He twisted his fingers together. “She’s sorta been showing up here pretty regularly.” 

The fact that he was her anchor bothered Lydia. Because it made their connection stronger, at least it had with Scott and Allison from what she heard about it. At least from Scott’s side. But Lydia was definitely not focusing on the fact that her stomach was feeling tight all over again. Nope, definitely not focusing on any of that nonsense. She was trying to help Stiles. 

Of course, his next words made her focusing on him a lot easier. “What do you mean showing up here? Uninvited?” Kind of like how she was doing just now?

“Yeah.” He hesitated, and then sighed. “And in the middle of the night.” He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding looking at her. Granted, his window had always been open to Scott, and he hoped that Lydia knew she was always welcome, too, but it was still different. 

Of course Lydia would _never_ take a window. Or climb out of one. Not unless her life actually depended on it. But she wasn’t exactly sure that was what he meant. She knew Allison used to do it. And she had heard of Stiles and Scott doing it, but they were boys, they were best friends, they had known each other their whole lives. And once more, Stiles looked uncomfortable. Before she said too much, she had to get a better grasp on the situation. “You mean she just-- comes in?”

He grimaced. “Yeah. In the middle of the night.” He could practically hear her thoughts and he glanced at her. “I know it sounds kinda creepy stalkerish. I just chalk it up to the fact she’s a Hale. I’m pretty sure creepy stalker are descriptors for all of them except maybe Cora.” At least Cora had never slammed his head into a steering wheel or thrown him against a door or clawed his back anyway. 

Lydia would actually keep Cora on that list considering she had showed up at school and turned on the fire alarm just to smoke her and Aiden out. Hales were pretty much incapable of normal human interaction as far as she knew. Even if Derek had gotten better. “It sounds like a terrible Twilight plot, Stiles.” It sounded stalkerish, yes. And possibly abusive. “You’re uncomfortable with all this-- and don’t bother denying it, I can see you are. You can’t use her situation as an excuse, you need to make her stop.” 

Stiles winced at that comment. His life was now being compared to the worst series of novels ever written in all eternity. Awesome. But she was right. He couldn’t deny that it made him uncomfortable. And it was only a matter of time before his dad wound up catching them and all hell broke loose. Maybe he could approach things from that angle. 

“Yeah,” he agreed softly, nodding. He glanced at her sideways, falling silent for a moment. “And...about Mexico.” He met her eyes. “I’m sorry.” 

She was seriously seconds away from starting her car and taking him over to her house so he could spend the night there instead. In a place where he wasn’t going to get mauled and possibly molested but she didn’t think he needed someone else pushing him around and making him do things, so she was going to suggest that to him first. 

… In a second, anyway. When she could get this conversation back on track. Because now she was confused. “What are you sorry about? Our plan didn’t actually get anyone hurt this time.”

“You were scared. And I was a jerk,” he said quietly. “Truthfully, I was...scared too. Like...a lot. For Scott, for us, for Derek.” He exhaled slowly. He’d never dealt with fear very well and his sarcasm levels tended to rise pretty rapidly when he was basically helpless on top of it. 

At least he wasn’t apologizing for Malia’s behavior. Again. It wasn’t his fault and he was obviously taking the brunt of her wildness, even if no one else really had any idea it was happening. So she sighed and just shook her head. 

“It’s fine, Stiles. I know you were just as terrified as I was.” And she had been terrified. She was usually terrified of losing someone else these days. Him, especially. “We both just needed to vent.”

He relaxed a little, reaching out and laying a hand on her arm. “Yeah,” he agreed softly, meeting her eyes. He held his breath for a minute and then looked down. “I was scared before that, too. When Araya took off with you and we didn’t know what was going on.” 

Her face softened at his words and as he laid a hand on her arm, she pursed her lips together in a slight pout and glanced down at it. She hadn’t been spending as much time with Stiles lately and she sincerely missed him. He was the person she felt the closest to aside from-- Allison. But he was busy with Malia and she didn’t feel right getting in the way of his life. Even if now she kind of wished she had. 

“I was fine,” she said quietly, glancing up at him again. “She just wanted information on Scott.” Mostly. Lydia wondered if seeing death was ever going to become less horrifying. If she was ever going to get used to it. She didn’t think so.

Truthfully he missed her too. And he felt guilty that he wasn’t spending as much time with her these days. And it wasn’t as if Malia needed him _more_. Lydia was dealing with the loss of her best friend, and the guy she’d been dating both. Malia just needed him in a different way than Lydia did. And there was really no reason he couldn’t do his best to help both of them. 

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he whispered, nodding and squeezing her arm lightly.

She gave him a sad smile and nodded slightly, then reached to cover his hand with her own and give it a gentle squeeze. “We’re all okay-- despite our crappy plans. Both of them,” she added, smiling a little more to try and lighten things up, mostly for his sake. 

Stiles grinned a little. “Yeah. True.” Comfortable silence fell between them, and then: “Do you want to come in?” He motioned toward the house. 

Lydia smiled more despite herself. Glad to hear he was comfortable with _her_ coming into his house. “Actually, I was going to offer for you to come and spend the night. We have four guest rooms anyway, and you look like you could use a break.” And a good night’s sleep. Without having to worry about Malia. 

He could definitely use both, really. And she obviously knew that. Because she knew _him._ “Yeah. Yeah, that’d be good. I’ll just text my dad and let him know so he doesn’t get worried when he gets home and I’m not here.” He pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket. He’d been a lot more conscious about the fact that his dad worried since everything with the nogitsune went down. And honestly, his dad was pretty laid back about him taking off and doing things that most people wouldn’t even believe. He just wanted Stiles to keep him in the loop for the most part. 

“Okay,” she relaxed, glad he had accepted her offer and then finally started the car. “And you know you’re welcome to stay over any time you need, right?” In fact, she’d really appreciate the company considering her mom wasn’t around much. Even Prada really liked Stiles, so she knew he wouldn’t have a problem with that, either. But she didn’t want him to feel pressured into going. Even if she really hoped he’d take her up on her offer until he got Malia to understand that she couldn’t do that to him.

The offer didn’t surprise him in the least. Not after everything they’d been through. He sent his dad the text letting him know where he’d be, and glanced at her sideways. “I know,” he said softly, tiny smile on his mouth. He was looking forward to a good night’s sleep for a change. He wasn’t looking forward to the conversation he was going to have to have with Malia, but on the list of things he’d done or had to do over the years...it didn’t seem as daunting as it could have.


End file.
